An  Idea 
That  Saved  a  Business 


An  Idea 
That  Saved  a  Business 


An  Idea 
That  Saved  a  Business 


By 
Leonard  Dreyfuss 


Privately  printed  for 

The  United  Advertising  Corporation 

1918 


Copyright  1918 

by 

United  Advertising  Corporation 


/? 


The  Idea 


THE  General  Manager  of  a 
large  Department  Store  sat 
in  his  study  one  night,  puff- 
ing away  at  a  big  black  cigar, 
with  a  real  worried  expression 
upon  his  face.  Things  were  not 
right  down  at  the  Store. 

Two  months  previous  he  had 
accepted  the  position  as  General 
Manager,  and  it  had  been  gradu- 
ally dawning  upon  him  that  he 
was  waging  a  losing  fight.  The 
Store  had  an  equipment  and  over- 
head based   upon   a   total   annual 


business  of  seven  million  dollars 
and  was  barely  doing  four. 

For  days  he  had  been  review- 
ing his  Organization;  the  activi- 
ties of  his  competitors,  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  City  itself,  the  op- 
portunities for  the  elimination  of 
expense  that  might  serve  to  re- 
duce the  over-head.  It  was  a  brain 
racking  circle  of  thoughts  and  fig- 
ures that  seemed  to  lead  nowhere 
but  back  to  the  starting  point. 

Sitting  in  his  Study  he  tried  his 
best  to  find  a  solution  of  the  ever- 
increasing  problem.  Musing  upon 
the  situation  aloud  he  said,  "boiled 
down  to  a  single  sentence  the 
problem  seems  to  be  this — how 
am   I   going  to  get   the  greatest 


amount  of  money  in  the  short- 
est possible  time?"  The  next 
thought  was  "to  whom  shall  I 
look  as  an  example  of  how  that 
can  be  accomplished  —  who  gets 
the  greatest  amount  of  money  in 
the  shortest  possible  time?"  Sud- 
denly he  sat  up  as  the  thought 
struck  him  forcibly — "why,  it's 
the  Circus  that  in  the  shortest 
space  of  time  produces  the  great- 
est result." 

He  couldn't  shake  the  idea  and 
the  next  morning  he  had  deter- 
mined that  he  would  seek  out  the 
General  Manager  of  the  largest 
Circus  Company  traveling  the 
Country  and  ask  him  to  what  it 
was  they  attributed  their  success. 


The  General  Manager  was  a 
man  who,  like  most  true  Execu- 
tives, acts  on  impulse,  and  he 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
take  the  first  train  to  where  the 
Circus  was  showing  and  talk  with 
its  General  Manager. 

Fortunately  the  Circus  was  then 
located  in  a  City  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Manager  made  the  trip. 

In  conference  with  the  Circus 
man  the  next  day  he  told  him 
what  he  had  in  mind.  "You  folks," 
he  said,  "it  seems  to  me,  more 
than  any  other  business,  get  the 
greatest  amount  of  money  in  the 
shortest  possible  time — how  do 
you  do  it?" 


The  Circus  man  laughed.  "It 
is  more  simple  than  you  think," 
he  said.  "We  simply  are  most 
careful  students  of  advertising; 
we  plan  and  place  our  advertising 
so  that  ALL  THE  PEOPLE 
know  when  we  shall  arrive  and 
how  long  we  shall  stay.  We  have 
found  that  some  people  read  the 
newspapers,  a  great  number;  and 
some  ride  in  Street  Cars,  quite  a 
few;  but  that  ALL  PEOPLE  who 
can  come  to  our  Circus  use  the 
great  outdoors.  Therefore,  we 
spend  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
money  we  have  for  advertising, 
outdoors.  By  the  use  of  outdoor 
publicity  we  get  our  greatest 
'punch/     The  Poster  offers  a  use 


of  color  and  size  that  dominates, 
and  the  eye  cannot  escape  it.  Then 
we  so  build  our  copy  that  'he  who 
runs  is  compelled  to  read/  We  are 
specialists  in  evolving  compelling 
copy — we  are  psychologists  who 
have  accurately  gauged  the  pub- 
lic's mind.  We  cater  to  the  great 
masses,  rich  and  poor  alike.  We 
must  understand  humanity  in  its 
entirety.  So  we  use  the  Poster 
and  painted  signs — we  tell  our 
message  in  color  and  size  and  we 
reiterate  it  on  every  Highway  and 
Byway  until  you  cannot  escape  the 
message  of  the  Circus  and  its  ap- 
peal." 

The  two  men  talked  for  a  num- 
ber of  hours,  and  finally  the  Gen- 


eral  Manager  said,  "if  your  plan 
is  a  success  for  the  Circus,  why 
not  for  some  other  business?  Is 
there  any  particular  reason  why 
your  method  can  only  be  success- 
ful for  a  Circus  Company  ?" 

"No,"  said  the  Circus  man,  "I 
think  the  method  itself  is  sound 
and  would,  to  a  large  degree, 
prove  efficient  for  mostly  any  bus- 
iness,  if   as   carefully   planned  as 


ours." 


The  General  Manager  of  the 
large  Department  Store,  riding 
back  to  his  City,  thought  over  all 
that  the  Circus  man  had  told  him, 
and  this  one  thought  persisted  in 
his  mind — "Why  not  for  the  De- 
partment Store?" 


Next  day  he  laid  plans  for  an 
Outdoor  Advertising  Campaign. 
He  called  in  his  Advertising  Man- 
ager and  a  Representative  of  the 
Outdoor  Advertising  Company  of 
his  City,  and  said  to  them,  "I 
want  to  place  outdoor  advertise- 
ments so  that,  no  matter  where 
you  stand  on  any  widely  traveled 
avenue  in  this  City  at  any  point  of 
circulation,  you  will  be  greeted  by 
a  dominant  reminder  of  our  Store. 
I  am  going  to  make  this  Institu- 
tion synonymous  with  shopping.  I 
am  going  to  so  constantly  reiter- 
ate that  message,  and  I  intend  to 
do  it  in  so  attractive  a  way  and 
with  such  compelling  copy  that 
the  public  will  be  unconsciously  at- 

10 


tracted   to  us   in   larger   numbers 
than  ever  before.     I  am  going  to 
inaugurate    within    such    changes 
as    will   make    OURS    the    finest 
place  to   shop,   rendering  unques- 
tionable   service    and    having    a 
'come  again'  atmosphere  about  it; 
and  I  will  look  to  the  outdoor  ad- 
vertising that  we  will  do  to  help 
build  for  us  this  prestige  that,  to 
my  mind,  is  so  necessary  for  an 
Institution  such  as  ours." 

The  General  Manager  was  an 
enthusiast  not  given  to  half  meas- 
ures — one  of  those  leaders  of  men 
who  act  instinctively  and  is  nine- 
tenths  right. 

He  said  to  the  Advertising 
Manager,  "I  have  set  a  figure  of 


11 


twenty  thousand  dollars  as  my 
limit  for  this  Outdoor  Campaign, 
and  I  want  you  to  buy  the  most 
dominant  Outdoor  Display  that 
was  ever  planned  in  this  City.  I 
want  to  go  over  every  bit  of  the 
copy  with  you  before  it  is  finally 
executed,  and  I  want  the  copy 
changed  every  month  with  a  com- 
plete re-arrangement  of  both  color 
scheme  and  message.  I  want  to 
make,  as  I  stated  before,  our  In- 
stitution synonymous  with  shop- 
ping/' 

Seven  years  have  gone  by,  and 
the  General  Manager  is  Presi- 
dent of  his  Company,  which  is 
now  doing  some  twelve  million 
dollars'  worth  of  business  yearly. 

12 


No,  the  increase  of  eight  mil- 
lion dollars  in  their  business  is  not 
due  entirely  to  this  wonderful 
Outdoor  Campaign  that  was  put 
forth.  The  untiring  energy  of  the 
General  Manager,  his  far-sight- 
edness and  ability  in  re-organizing 
his  Institution,  have  all  gone  to 
make  this  Department  Store  the 
wonderful  business  it  is.  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  today  his  Company 
is  still  spending  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  per  year  for  Outdoor  Ad- 
vertising. 

The  General  Manager  said  to 
me  the  other  day,  "I  believe  in 
our  Outdoor  Advertising  because 
I  have  proven  its  value.  It  tells 
my  message  to  all  the  people:  To 

13 


the  Foreigners  and  the  Illiterates 
who  cannot  read  the  newspapers 
and  have  money  to  spend,  and 
who  can  absorb  a  simple  message 
told  to  them  pictorially  and  in 
large  size  and  color — to  the  school 
girl  who  is  the  mother  of  tomor- 
row, and  to  the  busy  man  who 
rides  in  his  motor  car  to  and  from 
his  factory  and  glances  only  oc- 
casionally at  his  newspaper. 

"Mind  you  I  hold  no  brief  for 
Outdoor  Advertising  alone — I  am 
a  consistant  user  of  newspaper 
space,  probably  the  largest  in  this 
City  today,  but  I  attribute  the 
first  growth  and  stimulus  of  our 
business  to  the  wide-spreading  use 
I  made  of  Outdoor  Publicity." 


11 


"I  do  not  believe  that  a  De- 
partment Store  can  be  success- 
fully advertised  by  Outdoor  Ad- 
vertising alone,  any  more  than  I 
believe  it  can  be  most  successfully 
advertised  by  newspaper  advertis- 
ing alone.  I  believe  that  a  De- 
partment Store  is  best  served  by 
a  judicious  combination  of  both." 

This  General  Manager,  as  I 
said  before,  is  President  of  his  In- 
stitution today,  one  of  the  wisest 
men  in  the  Department  Store  field 
in  America. 

And  the  best  part  of  this  Story  is  that 

it  is  absolutely  true  and  was  told  to 

the  writer  almost  as  set  down. 


15 


NOTE 

Our  organization  has  the  advantage  of 
a  merchandising  experience  covering  a 
period  of  40  years.  We  have  served  cli- 
ents who  have  grown  from  infant  indus- 
try to  corporations  doing  fifty  million 
dollars  or  more  per  year. 

We  have  carefully  collected  and  com- 
piled sales  and  advertising  data,  a  great 
deal  of  which  is  applicable  to  all  business. 

We  have  a  sane,  workable  plan  we 
should  like  to  present  to  you. 

United  Advertising  Corporation. 


United  Advertising  Corporation 

Samuel  Pratt         .         .         .  President 

Leonard  Dreyfuss      .         .      Vice-President 
Alfred  V.  Van  Beuren,  Secretary -Treasurer 


Specializing  in  Outdoor  Advertising 

Throughout  the  United  States 
and  Canada 


Executive  Offices 

one  west  34th  street  at  fifth  avenue 
New  York  City 


Operating  and  Affiliated  Companies 

Newark  Poster  Advertising  Co.  Newark,  N.  J. 

Newark  Sign  Co.  Newark,  N.  J. 

New  Haven  Poster  Advertising  Co.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
New  Haven  Sign  Co.  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Bridgeport  Outdoor  Advertising  Co.,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
Van  Beuren  &  N.  Y.  Bill  Posting  Co.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
American  Posting  Service,  Chicago,  IlL 

Dallas  Poster  Advertising  Co.  Dallas,  Tex. 

Edwards  Co.  Waco,  Tex. 

Consolidated  Bill  Posting  Co.  Louisville,  Ky. 


Printed  by 
The  Price  &  Lee  Co.,  of  N. 
The  Art  Press 
Newark,  New  Jersey 


